Hot, hot, hot.

It's been HOT! Hot enough I probably shouldn't have gone for a 4-mile run today, but I needed the mental victory of beating the heat since our half marathon is (EEK!) only 60 days away.

It's been so hot I've had the last two days off work since no one wants to golf when the heat is this oppressive.

So, I've been trying to finish this:

I got the lines quilted going one way, but then messed up the second perpendicular line, which was my sign that it's time to get some rest instead of pushing through. I have until Friday to send it back with my mom. It's backed in flannel, so it should be a good chemo quilt for my friend.

Do you ever have a day where you feel like you got nothing done, but then when you sit down and think about it, you've done a ton? Like sweeping, vacuuming,  basting and half-quilting a quilt, dusting, running, cooking dinner early so your husband could have some, tending the garden, playing with the dogs (Prudence has a love/hate relationship with the hose now), etc? I guess it's good I was so busy today- back to work tomorrow! It's going to be even hotter- I'll be glad to be in the clubhouse!

Smiles all around!

Anybody having twins? :)

I finished both of the D9P baby quilts!!! I am very pleased-- they are quilted in a super simple wave, not too close (I love the fact that my batting allows for less quilting like this). Now, I just need to sell them... time to investigate local venues, I guess.

I only stabbed my non-thimbled finger 6 times... I guess I need to start using 2 thimbles.

And, on another happy note, Tim got the 944 running! Perfect timing, too, since the truck has been falling apart more and more with every mile it travels, lately having lost the entire exhaust.

And, I made butternut squash soup tonight, and it tasted pretty good!

Let's hear it for good days. The only thing that made it EVEN better yet is that every time the news comes on, there is more good news from Chile!!! It's so wonderful for such a potential tragedy to become such a miracle!!!!

Who doesn't love a face like this?

My bull terrier: friend, project supervisor, foot cleaner, and barnacle of love.

 Oh, Prudence! Isn't she sweet? She's the only baby I need! However, the Hubs would love to get her a brother-- a presa canario-- which is a "small mastiff," you know, only 100-180 lbs!!! Good thing he's not likely to deploy for a while if we get a critter like that!

(and now, back to our regularly scheduled programing)

After a quick trip to Wally World for the latest issue of F&P Love of Quilting, look what I got done! And this time, I sewed all the nine-patches correctly, so when they were cut and re-sewn it came out correctly! Yay! It needs borders, still but I was just so pleased I had to pause and celebrate!

Now I can move on to quilting the one with the mistake/improvisation, and then quilt this one, and then MAYBE find somewhere to sell them on commission. :)

Huzzah! It's going to be a good day!

:)

What flaw?

(Don't forget... 26 followers, and I'll host a giveaway!)

Is it a crisis, or not?

What do you do when you notice an error in a quilt when it's too late to fix? Do you agonize for hours, trying to figure out if there are seams that can be ripped and restitched to get that color layout right? Or do you chalk it up to creative license?

This is the dilemma in which I find myself tonight... after a whirlwind day, more productive than usual, I discovered AFTER I had cut a D9P patch wrong, that it, the Last of the 4, was in fact wrong. I must have pieced it incorrectly-- that's all I can figure out.

Do you see the error? I pieced the bottom two rows as two blocks first... it's not in them. Then I cut the top right, and still everything looked great. And then there's that pesky upper left quadrant: I must have sewn the nine-patch wrong, not noticed, then cute it and sewed the two pairs, and THEN laid it out and noticed!!!

:/

What am I going to do?

After pondering the possibility of ripping way too many seams, I went ahead and sewed the last two. I'm looking at this quilt as another lesson to check before I cut. It's also serving as a larger, more difficult lesson: LET GO OF YOUR OCD.

I have been making baby steps in letting go of some of my perfection-driven habits, and have been trying to modify destructive obsessive-compulsive behaviors. This quilt have given me the opportunity to allow an imperfection without it being something I'll have to stare at or deal with every day, since I intend to either sell it or give it away. I can't stand the thought of selling something "flawed," but that whole concept begs the question: Is it flawed or not?

My conclusion is that the quilt is not as flawed as my silly brain's desire for perfection. So, I probably will sell it... but I won't ask as much as I originally planned! See, compromise!

The borders are cut, and will be sewn on, thus eliminating any choice. And before I can change my mind, I'll do some simple quilting, similar to the other D9P. Nad then I will bind it, "flaws" and all, and take it with me as I look for a local place to sell things on commission in an attempt to build a customer base.  And then I will know just how flawed it is, or isn't.

NOT a lazy Sunday

I walked three laps of Newton park for the Hospice walk, which I was told is three miles. I would have walked more, but it got HOT!!! So, Mom made the executive decision that we were done.

I loved what I saw on tv when I got home-- the Bears were ahead!!! YAY! And they won decisively!

And, I have continued my productivity [despite trying to take a nap, and having it ruined by the stupid neighbors and their loud crotchrockets.... why do some people think those bikes look cool? Harleys and regular motorcycles are dangerous enough, but the super fast ones (often with helmetLESS riders) just make me think ORGAN DONOR].

I cut this before the walk:

 I knew that it would be enough for two baby quilts, one more boyish and the other girly. But, after sewing together and cutting and re-sewing 2 blocks, I found out I am only going to need 4 nine-patches, not 6...

I love the ease of a D9P! And how it shows off fun prints without overpowering them!

So, it looks like I'll be able to make a third baby quilt using the leftovers!!! YAY!!! The hope is to get these finished in a timely fashion (which means still not finishing any UFOs per se, but it will be three finishes), and then taking them to a little boutique in the area that sells all sorts of cute gifts, some handmade from local people and sold on commission. I want to find out what % they take, and compare that to what I've heard another local shop takes, and then see if I can FINALLY make a sale!!!

While I love all the compliments I've been getting from people in the family, friends, and even on my blog, I will do the biggest Happy Dance once I finally Sell a quilt!
It will be slightly larger even than the happy dance I will do once I see Dustin and Cathi's baby, Cortlyn, wrapped in the quilt I made for her... :)

Dinner tonight: ratatouille, that was made a couple weeks ago but frozen for just such an "I don't want to cook" evening... the only thing "lazy" about this Sunday!

REMINDER!!! Start following if you haven't already, so I can reach my goal of 26 followers and host a giveaway for my 26th birthday!!!

Princess Impatience Strikes Again!

I got it done. Not as well as I could have had I waited until I had a frame, but given that that could be months, my impatience took control, and I figured out a very simple quilting design and GOT IT DONE.

Patience is virtue that I'm lacking tonight.

Mommy's little rotary cutter, that's me!

Ok, so I didn't reach my goals, but it's not my fault-- Mom wanted me to come show her how to cut out her fabric for her bed runner quilt, but it turned into me cutting EVERYTHING. It was simple-- just turning 6 yards of fabric into 6" squares so she can make her own D9P-- but that meant I spent the whole Bears game there cutting fabric while she took a nap or lackadaisically watched from her recliner. :/ Love my momma, but it took up my whole day! So, my D9P has not progressed... I still think I can get it done by Saturday, though. Assuming no other day-eaters come along. I am glad I was able to help her, though. When i was getting ready to leave, I told her about pressing directions for the seams, how to chain piece, and a few other tips and tricks, to which she cocked her head and asked, "Where did you learn all of this? Not from me!" I laughed, and told her, "The internet, I guess." It's true-- anything I didn't learn by trial and error came partly from magazines, but mostly from the internet.... and that was before I joined any quilty groups!

Since I got home, I have machine stitched the binding onto the two place mats that I quilted yesterday, so now I can hand-stitch them down tomorrow while I get the oil changed on my car I've noticed that if I bring enough stuff to do for the "hour, hour and a half" long wait they often tell me, then my car is actually done in 20 minutes.

That exploding noise I heard yesterday while quilting? It WAS explosions! I'm not excited by the fact the a local factory burned up, just happy to have solved that mystery.

Now, to peruse the internet for some applique patterns... I want to try my hand at needle-turn applique! It would be a portable project, something I'm wanting more and more (even something that can be taken to bed at night to work on while I wind down, but can be set on the night stand so I don't have to get out of bed when I'm sufficiently drowsy!).

Early to rise, early to sew

Disappearing...

The reappearance!

I got up a little early and got some piecing in before the hubs woke up, which means the pumpkin place mats are starting to take shape, and the nine patches are disappearing! Haha, bad quilt joke. I also figured out last night how I want to quilt my mom's wall hanging. The last thing I recall before I fell asleep was the decision to try for a leafy pattern on the border. YAY!

Tim and I talked to a banker today about a mortgage. It was good to start the process-- the mortgage broker is going to be calling Tim next week-- but it is also frustrating to have not really gotten anywhere beyond "The rates are low. If we find you can afford it, it's a great time to buy." Thank you, Captain Obvious. If we have to live in an apartment for a while, it will still be better than here, but I know Tim wants to be able to buy a house even more than I do. BUt, given that we haven't talked to an actual broker, just the initial customer service rep, then I don't think we should get discouraged yet. We're not dreaming of a palace, just a place to call ours. So, we're still hopeful, and praying for the opportunity to own a home.

I made a goal (to change back to quilting): I want to finish piecing and quilt the D9P on Sunday. I already know how I want to quilt it, which will be a relatively simple swirl. Then, Monday I have class, so Tuesday I will finish my Mom's piece. This way, the D9P can be sold at the festival, and Mom will get her birthday present on time!

So, for now, I must keep thinking positively about all of my goals!